Koraput: A court in Rayagada district on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to nine men for abducting a train passenger in Nov 2019 and demanding Rs 10 lakh as ransom from his father. One of the convicts allegedly escaped from the court premises shortly after the verdict was pronounced.Additional district and sessions judge Alpana Swain convicted the accused identified as Hadapa Shiva, G Bangaru, Shundi Prakash, Shundi Suraj, Majhi Raja, Garli Surendra, G Teja, G Venu and Majhi Joseph under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced them to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 20,000 each.Also, Hadapa Shiva was additionally sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 377 of the IPC for sexually assaulting the victim, along with an additional fine of Rs 10,000. The sentences will run concurrently.The case dates back to Nov 2019, when Bibhuti Bhushan Pujari, son of Panchanan Pujari of Subarnapur district, was travelling from Visakhapatnam to Titilagarh after arriving from Pune. The accused allegedly confronted him aboard the train, accusing him of transporting ganja, and assaulted him before abducting him from near Terapalli station in an SUV.They subsequently took him to a forested area, where he was allegedly tortured. The accused also called up his father and demanded Rs 10 lakh for his release.Rayagada police later rescued the victim from near Barijhola following a probe into the kidnapping. “The prosecution examined 36 witnesses during the trial and successfully established the charges against all nine accused. The court has awarded life imprisonment to all of them and directed the District Legal Services Authority to provide appropriate compensation to the victim,” said public prosecutor Rajat Ranjan Khatua, who represented the state in the case.Meanwhile, Shundi Prakash allegedly escaped from the court premises after learning about his conviction. Police have initiated steps to trace him.